Apollo 4 staging shot showing the first stage S-IC falling away, followed by the inter-stage connecting ring. The view of the Earth is from a height of 200, 000 ft, but the curvature is exaggerated by the wide angle nature of the lens. The camera (an apparently late addition to the rocket stack) was housed in the bottom of the second stage (S-II). They filmed at high speed giving an estimated quarter speed slow-motion view of events. The capsules housing the film were jettisoned soon after this separation event and fell back to Earth to be recovered after splashdown in the Ocean. The camera ejection moment is caught in the last few frames of the film. There were two S-II cameras on board Apollo 4 which were recovered showing both sides of the rocket vehicle. Date recorded: 1967-12-09 to 1967-12-09 |